1609: The town of Santa Fe was established as a
Spanish-Indian trade center.

1826: Jedadiah Smith is reported to be the first "White" man
to enter Nevada.

1829: Modern-day Las Vegas (Spanish for "The
Meadows") is named by explorers on the Old Spanish
Trail. The travelers found an abundance of water
in the region that enabled a trail to Los Angeles.

1833: John C. Fremont and his party discover Lake Tahoe.

1846: The Infamous Donner Party became trapped in
the snows of the Sierra Nevadas and resorted to cannibalism
to survive.

1848: United States acquires Nevada as part of the
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, as a result of the Mexico
War.

1849: First recorded discovery of gold in Nevada
was in Gold Canyon near present day Dayton.

1851: Carson City is founded as a trading post.

1859
- 1878: Comstock Silver Load discovered in Virginia
City. Thousands of prospectors descend upon the "boomtown." Over
$400 million of silver and gold is extracted from
the region marking the nation's first major silver
deposit discovery. Wealth from the Comstock Load
greatly contributed to the growth and development
of San Francisco, California and Nevada.

1861: Nevada separates from the land referred to as "Utah Territory" and
adopts the name Nevada.

1864: Nevada becomes the 36th state.

1935: Construction
on the Hoover Dam begins attracting thousands of
workers from across the country and likely fueling
the propagation of legal gambling.

1951: The Nevada Test Site is built for the purposes
of testing Nuclear Weapons.